Thursday, May 3, 2012

Word Hunt

"Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule." ~ Stephen King

Love this quote. Probably because I'm not a big fan of using the thesaurus myself. :)

To be fair, I do use the thesaurus now and again. When I was writing that steampunk story, I used it a lot. I created tons of new devices and words in that story, and I used the thesaurus a lot to help me create names for the tinkerings. Lots of fun.

But when I'm revising and editing, I don't use the thesaurus much. When I find myself repeating a word (which sadly happens too often - but that's a subject for another post...), I tend to scrap the sentence or the paragraph and rewrite it to avoid the word. It doesn't always work, but it helps.

I know lots of writers who use the thesaurus a lot. I've often felt somehow less because I don't. So when I first saw that King quote, it made my day!

Knowing more now, I realize we all have our different styles and ways of doing things. Not only is this okay, it's what makes us all unique and interesting. If we all wrote the same way, I'm sure our stories would be similar too - and no one wants that!

I LOVE the thesaurus - its a different world of words - I love love love it! It's near enough my bible!! Sorry Mr King, I don't agree! But he's writing fab stories and making millions and I'm just rubbish so what do I know! LOL!

I do love the thesaurus but, really, it's for when I want a particular word and can't think of it--I can only think of the plain, boring version of the exact word I'm looking for. And that's because my brain is hole-y like Swiss cheese lately.

If I write a word and don't like it, I right click and see what synonyms Word has listed. If I like a synonym better, I'll use it. If not, I either leave it be or find a way to rewrite it. Every once in a while if I want a completely different word that's not in my vocabulary, I might pull up a thesaurus.

Stephen King is pretty awesome though, so maybe I shouldn't use it at all anymore :p

I use the dictionary and the thesaurus a lot.My brain doesn't work as well as it used to. BSC. Before small child. I swear I had a great vocabulary and my brain was like a razor. Now it's like jello. Holding together but always sliding from side to side.Heather

There are times when a thesaurus can be really useful. Poetry writing, descriptive writing, dialogue of a person who speaks in a manner above their station. A thesaurus is also an exciting place to lose yourself so I'm afraid I don't, in this instance, agree with King.

I jot down words I like and want to use....I have a ya started and when I hear a teenager use a term I like I write it on the front cover of the composition book I've been using for notes. The same with historical fiction...if I'm reading something and I like a word of phrase I jot it down and put it in a file.

I bought a 1918 dictionary when i was in England the last time. When I edit my hf novel I'm going to check all my spellings and usages to make sure I have them correct to the period.

Yes, I'm definitely a word hunter. The thrill of the hunt when I find a word that is absolutely perfect is indescribable. And when I say perfect, I don't mean an obscure hard-to-pronounce word intended to impress everyone with my vocabulary, I mean a simple word that adds clarity and depth and the perfect nuance to what I want to say. Judy, South Africa